Level 5 · Mysteries & Monsters
Mission 417
Binary Lights: Spell Anything With 5 Lamps
Badge: Bit Wizard
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Build a 5-light code board and flash a secret word for someone to crack.
Five lights. On or off. That's all you get… and it's enough to spell any word in the world.
- New skill Controlling lamps with levers
- Level 5 · Mysteries & Monsters
- Difficulty Intermediate
- Mode Survival
- Time 40–50 min
- Ages 13+
What you’ll build
Build a board of five lights, each worth a different number, and learn the secret of binary. Turn each letter of a word into a pattern of lights that add up to its place in the alphabet. Flash your word one letter at a time and see if a family member can crack it.
Finish line: Your five-light board flashes a secret word, and your family member has decoded it.
Bonus challenge: Add a sixth light (worth 32). How many patterns now? Use the extras for 'space', 'end' and a secret emergency code.
You’ll need
- Redstone lamps or pistons
- Levers
- Building blocks
- A family member to decode
You choose
- My light board's name
- My secret word
- Lamps or pistons
Stuck?
- Redstone lamps need glowstone, which comes from the Nether. Pistons that push out a block work just as well.
- Place each lever on the block behind its lamp, or right on the lamp, so it only powers that one light.
- Lights turning on together? Power can spread through touching blocks, so leave a gap between each lamp and lever pair.
For grown-ups
Get this mission
This mission is in Mission Pack 41 (Level 5: Mysteries & Monsters). Its printables arrive in the store soon. We release about one level a month.
Print one mission at a time. You never need to print everything.
Played on Minecraft Bedrock on iPad. Buttons can differ on other devices and versions.